Markers and Mechanisms of Individual Differences in Cortico-Cardiac Covariation

皮质-心脏协变个体差异的标志物和机制

• 批准号: 390764156
• 负责人: Professor Dr. Erik M. Müller
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Arbeitseinheit Differentielle Psychologie und Persönlichkeitsforschung
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2016-12-31 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/390764156?language=en
• 关键词: Markers; Mechanisms; Individual; Differences; Cortico

The mere cognitive processing of a potential threat may almost immediately accelerate cardiac activity. Although cortical and cardiac processes are known to affect each other and covary (cortico-cardiac covariation), we do not know why cortico-cardiac covariation is stronger in some individuals than in others. Individual differences in cortico-cardiac covariation relate to individual differences in anxiety and are thus particularly important for our understanding of dispositional anxiety and anxiety disorders. Here, two studies with healthy participants are proposed in an attempt to shed light on markers and mechanisms of cortico-cardiac covariation. The main goal of study 1 is to test whether previously reported within-subject correlations of time-lagged single-trial EEG and heart rate provide a stable and valid trait-marker for cortico-cardiac covariation with relevance for anxiety. N = 67 participants perform several paradigms (gambling task, time estimation task and fear conditioning paradigm) that evoke well-characterized signatures in EEG, heart rate and measures of EEG-heart rate covariation and dispositional anxiety is assessed. The same paradigms are performed 6 months later. With the collected data the re-test reliability, convergent, construct and predictive (i.e. anxiety) validity of cortico-cardiac covariation as assessed with various measures (EEG-heart rate covariation, stimulus-evoked heart rate responses, heart rate variability) and various paradigms will be assessed using multi-trait-multi-method and cross-lagged panel approaches. The main goal of study 2 is to investigate underlying mechanisms of cortico-cardiac covariation and to experimentally test whether individual differences in cortico-cardiac covariation contribute to individual differences in anxiety or vice versa. In that study, N = 148 participants perform a gambling task during threat-of-shock and control conditions. Importantly, we intend to pharmacologically alter cortico-cardiac covariation by double blind and placebo-controlled intake of escitalopram (10 mg), a substance that presumably affects cortical influences on the heart by modulating serotonin activity. By assessing whether (A) (pharmacologically induced) alterations of cortico-cardiac covariation mediate the subjective experience of anxiety during the anticipation of shocks or (B) whether (threat-of-shock induced) alterations of anxiety mediate changes in cortico-cardiac covariation, inferences about causal relationships between anxiety and cortico-cardiac covariation can be made. In combination, studies 1 and 2 thus inform, whether cortico-cardiac covariation as assessed with combined EEG-heart rate measurements reflects a stable trait and a risk factor for experiencing anxiety. Both studies will provide important insights into the general mechanisms by which the brain communicates with the heart and into the mechanisms of individual variation in cortico-cardiac covariation.

仅仅是对潜在威胁的认知处理就可能几乎立即加速心脏活动。虽然已知皮质和心脏的突起相互影响并相互变异(皮质-心脏协变)，但我们不知道为什么某些个体的皮质-心脏协变比其他个体更强烈。皮层-心脏协变的个体差异与焦虑的个体差异有关，因此对我们理解倾向性焦虑和焦虑症特别重要。在这里，提出了两项关于健康受试者的研究，试图阐明皮质-心脏协变的标志和机制。研究1的主要目的是检验先前报道的时滞单次试验脑电和心率的受试者内相关性是否提供了一个稳定和有效的与焦虑相关的心脑皮层协变的特征标记。N=67名参与者执行了几种范式(赌博任务、时间估计任务和恐惧条件范式)，这些范式在脑电、心率和脑电-心率协变和性格焦虑的测量中引起了很好的特征特征。同样的范例在6个月后进行。利用收集到的数据，将使用多种测量方法(脑电-心率协变、刺激-诱发心率反应、心率变异性)和各种范式，使用多特征-多方法和交叉滞后小组方法来评估皮质-心脏协变的重测信度、收敛、构造性和预测(即焦虑)有效性。研究2的主要目的是探讨心皮协变的潜在机制，并从实验上检验心皮协变的个体差异是否会导致焦虑的个体差异，反之亦然。在这项研究中，N=148名参与者在电击威胁和控制条件下执行赌博任务。重要的是，我们打算通过双盲和安慰剂对照摄取埃西妥普兰(10毫克)来从药理上改变皮质-心脏协变，这种物质可能通过调节5-羟色胺活性来影响皮质对心脏的影响。通过评估(A)(药物引起的)心皮协变变化是否调节了预期电击期间的焦虑的主观体验，或者(B)(休克威胁引起的)焦虑的改变是否调节了心皮协变的变化，可以推断焦虑和心皮协变之间的因果关系。因此，结合研究1和2，研究1和研究2告知，通过脑电-心率联合测量评估的皮质-心脏协变是否反映了一种稳定的特征和经历焦虑的风险因素。这两项研究将对大脑与心脏沟通的一般机制以及皮质-心脏协变中个体差异的机制提供重要的见解。